


Shep's #CarryOnCountdown

by flammable_grimm_pitch



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell, Simon Snow & Related Fandoms
Genre: Carry On Countdown 2020, Crack, Friendship, Microfic, Multi, Post-Watford (Simon Snow)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27773146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flammable_grimm_pitch/pseuds/flammable_grimm_pitch
Summary: For my #COC2020 project, I’ll be sharing a microfic (50 words or less) each day, either about Shep or from his perspective. I upload daily to Tumblr, but will post at the end of each week here on AO3.
Relationships: Penelope Bunce & Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch & Simon Snow, Penelope Bunce/Shepard, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Comments: 10
Kudos: 14





	1. Week 1

**Day 1: Found Family**

The lights are off when I walk into the living room with a bowl of hot popcorn in hand. Simon is curled up against Baz on the sofa, and Penny has commandeered the love seat.

“Saved you a spot,” she says with a smile, patting the open space beside her.

~ ~ ~

**Day 2: Distance**

The UK is so many things: green, wet, crowded, diverse. I learn something new every day. Even magic is different; there are whole _communities_ of Maybes living together! Being here, it’s a dream come true.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret: some days, I really miss Nebraska.

~ ~ ~

**Day 3: Retellings**

That Fomorian is making a huge mistake by feeling up Dracula’s grandson, no question about it. The guy with the wings — Simon — must be Drac Jr.’s boyfriend, because his tail’s a’ twitchin’, and his knuckles are white with rage. One more move, and that goat is dead meat.

~ ~ ~

**Day 4: Side Characters**

All of Penny’s Watford classmates meet up at the pub on occasion, just to shoot the shit for old times’ sake. They were suspicious when I showed up, but they warmed to me pretty quickly. Maybe too quickly — I can _never_ unsee the way Gareth’s hips move when he casts.

~ ~ ~

**Day 5: Sleepless**

When I sit down at the Grimms’ breakfast table on Christmas Eve morning, everyone is eyeing me curiously.

“What?” I ask through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

“You look a bit…tired,” Baz prompts, smirking.

“Well, the wraiths and I were up late talking—”

“Of _course_ you were,” Simon groans.

~ ~ ~

**Day 6: WLW**

I know it's rude to stare, but...

Trixie the pixie, all of 4 inches tall, is perched on her girlfriend's index finger like a little bird. Occasionally, she leans forward to plant the tiniest of kisses on the tip of Keris' nose. It's pretty adorable.

Love is a funny thing.

~ ~ ~

**Day 7: Animals**

I'm not a cat person. Not really a dog person either. But when Simon dragged me along to the petting zoo last weekend to see some goats (apparently Baz isn't so popular amongst small farm animals), I instantly fell in love. 

Penny can't just...make me take it back, _can she_?


	2. Week 2

**Day 8: Rain**

I stare out the window of the coffee shop and watch as people with colourful umbrellas race past, trying to escape the rain. It's constantly raining here - nearly a third of the year, on average.

When a little girl in rubber boots splashes through a puddle, I think of Blue.

~ ~ ~

**Day 9: Kids/Childhood**

I remember the first time I saw a fairy like it was yesterday. The sweet scents and colourful plants in my grandma’s garden lured me out one warm summer afternoon. When I bent down to sniff a pretty flower, a tiny girl with wings popped out and pinched my nose!

~ ~ ~

**Day 10: Crossover**

Pretty lame that my friends are Speakers but didn't even go to a well-known wizarding school. I don't know much about magickal education in the UK, but here's what I do know:

Penny'd be a Ravenclaw. Simon's Gryffindor as fuck. Baz is a reluctant Hufflepuff.

And me? I'm all Slytherin.

~ ~ ~

**Day 11: Fluff**

Penny’s head is in my lap, her soft, purple hair fanned out across my legs. I run my fingers through it, working out a few tangles. She’s reading me a book of fairytales.

When her voice gets too sleepy, I lean down and kiss her quiet.

“Have a rest, love.”

~ ~ ~

**Day 12: Wings**

“Yeah, _right there_ , Shep,” Simon groans, stretching out before me. “Keep going.”

The bedroom door creaks open and Baz stands in the doorway, his face white with rage. “What the _fuck_ is going on here?” he hisses, baring his fangs.

“Itchy wing!” I shout, wielding the backscratcher like a sword.

~ ~ ~

**Day 13: Below the Surface**

I’ll admit it — I fucked up. But can you blame me? Baz has talked about merwolves a thousand times — how could I _not_ go looking for them?

Next time I go snorkelling in the Watford moat, I’ll definitely bring something other than an underwater camera. Maybe a knife...

~ ~ ~

**Day 14: Constellations**

“D'you think we're together in every universe?" Simon wonders, leaning against Baz in the bed of my truck as they gaze up at the stars.

“Every single one," Baz whispers back. There's a long pause, and then:

“D’you think _aliens_ are fit?”

Baz just sighs. "Ask the Normal."


	3. Week 3

**Day 15: Hurt/Comfort**

I set a hand on Baz’s shoulder and give it an awkward pat.

“Simon didn’t mean to,” I soothe gently. “I’m sure it was an accident.”

He stares down at a misshapen scrap of floral fabric that shrunk in the wash.

“This was my favourite shirt,” he sighs.

“Sorry, man.”

~ ~ ~

**Day 16: Meme/Crack**

“Your turn, Shep,” Simon crows, pouring me a shot. “Truth or drink.”

“Do your worst,” I dare him.

“Have you ever had sex with a non-human magical creature?” Baz wonders.

“Yep, a were-something,” I say, grinning wildly.

“A were- _what_?” Penny asks, scandalized.

“Wouldn’t _you_ like to know.”

~ ~ ~

**Day 17: Blanket Fort**

Baz steps in the door just as Simon and I lay the finishing touches on our masterpiece. We’ve used every blanket and sheet in the flat.

“I’m not even going to ask,” he says, shaking his head. “Wait, are those _my_ twinkle lights?!”

“You said you weren’t going to ask...”

~ ~ ~

**Day 18: Side Ships**

I had to ask Penny out eleven times before she finally said yes. I felt like that Mr. Collins dude from the Pride & Prejudice movie Baz made me watch, except that I eventually got the girl.

People ask why I didn’t give up.

I knew she was the one. 

~ ~ ~

**Day 19: Misunderstanding**

Dinner with Penny’s family was going great, or so I thought, until Mrs. Bunce asked what my magickal artifact is.

"Oh, I can't do magic," I say between bites of lasagna. "I'm Normal."

"But you said..." Mr. Bunce frowns, confused. "Trolls! And fairies!"

Penny squeezes my hand under the table.

~ ~ ~

**Day 20: Technology**

"Yeah, so basically it warms food up by reflecting waves of energy through whatever you've put in there, and it makes the water molecules inside the food vibrate faster, which creates heat."

"Interesting," Penny says thoughtfully.

"Revolutionary," Baz agrees.

Simon pipes up from across the room. "Mages have microwaves, Shep."

~ ~ ~

**Day 21: Warmth**

No one ever mentioned how fucking cold England was going to be. But here we are, standing out in the rain while we wait for a bus, my feet frozen in my rubber boots.

Baz whispers something beside me, and I'm suddenly warm again. 

I thank him. He just shrugs.


	4. Week 4

**Day 22: Unlikely Friends**

Everyone at the dinner table watches with open mouths as Malcolm Grimm and I shoot the shit about the differences between magickal livestock in Britain and America. He’s fucking brilliant.

You can take a man off of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the man.

**~ ~ ~**

**Day 23: Cooking/Baking**

Fellas, is it gay to tell your friend he looks cute in an apron?

Simon got some cookie cutters in a Secret Santa exchange, so he’s made gingerbread cookies. He iced a few to look like our friends, and they're too precious to eat. 

Baz's is definitely the prettiest. Figures. 

**~ ~ ~**

**Day 24: Song**

"I really can't stay, Shep," Penny says, glancing at my UFO clock. "It's late, and I've got class tomorrow."

"Technically, my place is closer to the university than yours," I remind her, pulling her in for a kiss.

"Well..."

She decides it's too cold to walk home in a skirt.

**~ ~ ~**

**Day 25: Parallel Universe**

When my mom signed the permission forms for me to go on an exchange trip to Watford, I don't think either of us realized how much weird stuff was going on in the UK.

The Humdrum trying to kill Simon/steal magic? Not cool. 

Penelope Bunce? Gorgeous and _very_ cool.

~ ~ ~

**Day 26: Break**

Today, I watched a relationship dissolve before my very eyes.

"I told you I was saving this for Christmas Eve!" Simon shouted from the kitchen, holding up his mangled gingerbread house.

"I didn't think you'd notice!" Baz attempted to apologize. (Poorly.)

"Wouldn't notice half the bloody roof missing? Fuck you!"

~ ~ ~

**Day 27: Snowstorm**

Our trip to Nebraska for the holidays isn't going quite as we'd planned. Instead, we're stranded at JFK waiting for our flight to be rescheduled due to 18 inches of snow. At least we have Starbucks and FaceTime, right?

(Peppermint mochas can't hold a candle to my mom's turkey dinner.)

~ ~ ~

**Day 28: Party**

I don't know what Penny was expecting when I said we'd do a holiday get-together with my friends, but this probably wasn't it.

"Roll for initiative, Pen," I prompt her, pointing to her sparkly purple D20.

"I don't know what that means," she sighs. "Pass the crisps, please, Goblin Overlord.”


	5. Week 5

**Day 29: Secret Santa/ _Gift Giving_**

What is a guy supposed to give his girlfriend for Christmas when she can literally make money appear out of thin air? It took me forever to decide on her gift.

But her face when she opened that little velvet box to find her magic amethyst ring fixed? Priceless.

~ ~ ~

**Day 30: Any Way the Wind Blows**

I promised Penny I'd never tell a soul, but for you, reader, I think it'll be fine.

Everyone lives.

The whole “Baz pulling an Edward Cullen and turning Simon into a winged vampire so he wouldn't bleed to death” was a little weird. 

But like I said — everyone lives.

~ ~ ~

**A/N:** Thanks so much to everyone who stuck around all the way to the end! I so appreciate the kudos, comments, and response to these microfics on Tumblr. Writing Shep has been a ton of fun, and I look forward to (hopefully) seeing him again in July for _Any Way the Wind Blows._


End file.
